Strip-search

Wright (Wayne) and another v United Kingdom [2006] All ER (D) 125 (Sep) (ECHR); NLJ 6 October

The applicants were mother and son. The son had cerebral palsy and severely arrested development. They were visiting a family member who was being held in prison on remand. Following a report by a senior prison officer raising suspicions that the family member was involved in the supply and use of drugs within the prison, the prison governor ordered that all his visitors be strip-searched before visits. The applicants were told that if they refused to be strip-searched they would be denied their visit. They were stripped naked and their bodies, including their sexual organs, physically examined. Their civil claims against the Home Office were unsuccessful. They complained to the European Court of Human Rights that their rights under articles 3 and 8 of the Convention had been violated and that they had no effective domestic remedy as required by article 13. Article 3 provides: ‘no one should be subjected to torture or to inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.’ Article 8 provides: ‘everyone has the right to respect his private … life … there shall be no interference by public authority with the exercise of this right except such as is in accordance with the law and is necessary in a democratic society’